Push rights probe, U.K. tells Sri Lanka

Comments come less than a month ahead of the CHOGM meet in Sri Lanka

Britain wants Sri Lanka to make concrete progress in investigating alleged war crimes and human rights violations, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka John Rankin said here on Wednesday.

His comments made at the Foreign Correspondents’ Association here come less than a month ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka.

Observing that Sri Lanka ought to address militarisation, resolve land issues and work towards witness protection, Mr. Rankin said recommendations regarding these did not come from outside, but were part of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report. Though the progress made post-war was welcomed by Britain, it was slower than what Britain would wish for, he said.

In addition to issues over a political settlement in the north, the United Kingdom was also concerned about wider issues of respect for human rights, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka. “Again, values in those areas are not U.K.-specific values, or Western values. They are values to which all the Commonwealth members have signed up,” he said.

Suggesting that the Commonwealth would continue shining the spotlight on Sri Lanka even after the November summit, he said Britain hoped that Sri Lanka, as the host of CHOGM and as incoming chair, would respect those values. The Prince of Wales, he said, would represent Her Majesty The Queen at CHOGM.

Mr. Rankin, who is also High Commissioner to the Maldives, said Britain was concerned about the annulment of the presidential elections there.

The statements made by the British High Commissioner are merely to satisfy the opponents of CHOGM, which is to be held in Colombo, before Sri Lanka proves to the world that it can be trusted on human rights violations. Sri lanka will say nothing to these accusations until after the successful conclusion of the CHOGM. Thereafter, it will refute everything that was said by the British diplomat. Sri Lankan ministers and their diplomats are very good at countering these statements. As for Tamils, who were the victims of the civil war, there is nothing to gain from CHOGM or from the statements made by the High Commissioner. Yet again Sri Lankan Tamils are taken taken for a ride;Tamils demand sticks not carrots from Commonwealth to Sr Lanka. Tamils needs an international probe and a meaningful share of the political power in which they can defend themselves and develop their economy.